FYI – here is the agenda & staff analysis for the special TD meeting Wednesday from Colleen Roland ------------------- From: Roland, Colleen [mailto:Colleen.Roland@xxxxxxxxxx] Subject: October 28, 2009 Special TDCB meeting The agenda is below AGENDA Tallahassee - Leon County Transportation Disadvantaged Coordinating Board Meeting 4:00 P.M. Wednesday, October 28, 2009 Gemini Building Second Floor Conference Room 408 North Adams Street 1. Call to Order (Commissioner Rackleff) 2. Community Transportation Coordinator (Colleen Roland) See attached staff report. 3. Adjournment (Commissioner Rackleff) Next meeting: January 20, 2010 at 4 PM. Staff Analysis: Community Transportation Coordinator INTRODUCTION Note: Information used to develop this analysis is the Annual Operating Report (AOR) and data provided by coordinators in adjacent counties. The Annual Operating Report was chosen because it is the official state-required reporting document and is also used to calculate the trip payment rates to operators contracting with the coordinated system. The AOR calculates the true cost of providing a trip from both an administrative and operational viewpoint. As staff reviewed the current AOR it was noted that less money than the previous year was going to the delivery of transportation services coupled with increasing administrative costs. PRESENT ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS In its 2002 appointment as the CTC, StarMetro agreed to be paid $2.10 per trip for administrative costs. One increase was requested and granted by the TDCB, raising that cost to $3. For most of their tenure as CTC, the administrative costs were covered by this amount. Given the projected number of trips for FY 2010 (8,328 bus passes and 48,537 paratransit) the total fee gathered should be $170,595. The total operating expenses projected by StarMetro for the upcoming year is $314,095. This represents an overage of $143,500. Returning to a $3 per trip fee would then release funding for transportation services, but it appears that the $3 administrative fee no longer covers their expenses. However, upon acceptance of the role of CTC in 2002, the City Commission directed that no local money should be spent to support the duties of the CTC. One option would be to raise the administrative fee paid to StarMetro But to raise the co-payment would eliminate substantial funding for transportation services. A private sector CTC would have to accept the $3 payment per trip/bus pass and nothing more. PRIVATE ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS StarMetro’s administrative costs include costs that are reduced or eliminated in the private sector. Such items include higher salary standards, fringe benefit package costs, insurance, and internal operating costs. StarMetro’s salary costs are increased by an additional 78.12% to cover these expenses. Below is a comparison. Salary Standards County Reservationist Starting Wage Fringe/Indirect cost % Leon (Star Metro) $8.82 78% (a) Wakulla $7.25 26% Gadsden $7.25 41% Jefferson $7.25 41% (a) source City of Tallahassee Accounting Services and the adopted Cost Allocation Plan Private sector can also transport private passengers that add to the health of their overall bottom line. BENEFIT TO OPERATORS More funding available for transportation services means more trips. At the present time the City of Tallahassee also requires that each operator carry a minimum of $1,000,000 insurance coverage. The state requires $100,00/200,000. This would likely reduce the insurance premium of the operator. APPOINTMENT PROCESS Upon notification by StarMetro to the Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged (CTD), the CTD would appoint an interim CTC for six months. During the interim the TDCB would complete and advertise an RFP for the CTC. The TDCB has requested that if this occurs the CTD require that the interim CTC honor all terms of existing, executed contracts. Check out the TABI resource web page at http://acorange.home.comcast.net/TABI and please make suggestions for new material. if you'd like to unsubscribe you can do so through the freelists.org web interface, or by sending an email to the address tabi-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject.